We Plan, God Giggles
A dear friend of mine, Stacy Kessler, mentioned that she plans her year with 42-weeks of work and 10-weeks of time away from work. When I first heard this, my mind EXPLODED with a million-and-one questions. The first being, HOW DO YOU EVEN DO THIS?
Then it struck me, what we plan for is what will happen. If we do not plan for time off to rest and renew, we will either stress out trying to shoe-horn in a vaca or not make the time until our body/God forces us to via a health crisis because we did not prioritize taking care of ourselves (which, in my experience, always happens at the worst possible time ever).
As uncomfortable as it felt (and still feels), in late 2020, I set out to plan 7 days off (not necessarily consecutive) per quarter to relax, renew, get out in nature and just do things that fill my bucket with people that I love.
Fast forward to February 12th, Mike and I took the day off, hopped in the car around 5:30am and headed up to Hocking Hills State Park (this was my first time, and it is EVERYTHING everyone says it is - I highly recommend checking it out!) to embark on our first “big hike” and first winter hike of 9-ish miles.
Which turned in to 12 miles 😳
We knowingly decided to go a different route than originally planned and didn’t really take into account the extra length it would add (and frankly, even if we knew, we probably would’ve still done it because of all the inherent energy and excitement you have at the beginning of a hike). The experience was breathtaking, but those last couple miles were TOUGH and I knew I had a choice.
Focus in on the aches and pains starting to invade my body, the cold, b*tch outloud and ask “how much longer til we get there” every 5 minutes
Focus in on my breath, choose to see the beautiful surroundings and think of a time where the task at hand felt physically near impossible but made it through
It was NOT easy at first, but I chose #2. I thought about how I birthed both my daughters and how if I could birth babies out of my body, I can walk 2 more miles in the snow. But that wasn’t enough. So then, instead of focusing on the aches, I started thanking God for how strong my body has become, how deeply I can breathe, that we were prepared for the task, and all the love I have in my life. As I continued to repeat these thoughts over and over in my mind, my focus began to shift from staring at the ground in front of me to looking all around in wonder at how flipping LIT nature is. The vibrant contrast of colors, the softly falling snow, the soothing sound of water flowing under ice, how old and strong the trees have grown, the little bird hopping around in the snow, and suddenly, all felt like it was exactly how it was supposed to be in that moment and a smile came across my face.
Resilience is defined as the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties and to add, I believe it is the capacity to not only recover from but to THRIVE through difficulty. Which is significantly different than “getting through” or “powering through” (which I picture as gritting our teeth, ignoring our needs, and just getting done what feels like it needs to get done right at that moment. When we power through, we miss the nuances, beauty, and growth unfolding in tandem with the difficulty).
So how do we cultivate resilience when it isn’t coming easy or in our nature?
Let’s fun-size this a bit. Just recognizing that we ALWAYS have a choice in how we get through a difficult time is REALLY POWERFUL. Know it is ok to thrive or not thrive through a particular time, but that it is always your choice that you have complete control over. It is that simple to start. Life does feel better when we set ourselves up to thrive, so any time you can remember you have a choice, the closer you are to making thriving through a regular part of your life.
While there are many factors that contribute to thriving and being more resilient through all seasons of your life, I want to focus on the one I believe is *most* foundational when you’re ready to move beyond recognition.
Self-Care
We cannot fully show up in life and thrive through the challenges unless we take care of ourselves ensuring that we are operating with a full bucket.
That means (and by no means is this is a complete list):
👉Nourishing our bodies with food that makes our body feel great more than we consume foods that don’t make our body feel as great
👉Taking time for yourself to do things that make your body feel, move, and think in ways that make it feel so GREAT
👉Surrounding yourself with people that cheer loud for you all the time It means
👉Shedding the guilt and being unapologetic about doing what nourishes you most
👉Mustering the energy in your darkest hour to find the littlest, tiniest thing you can be grateful for
👉Taking minutes, hours, or days off just for you
By making sure our buckets are full (and let me tell you babe, no one else is going to do that for you, it is your responsibility) through exploring the above, we will be better equipped to thrive through the challenges versus when our buckets are depleted and we default into the easiest, but most destructive, mode of just gritting our teeth, powering through, miserable, burnt out, tired and ungrateful.
What you plan for will always happen (after God giggles a bit), but even when the unexpected happens, you can still choose how much you thrive through with resilience. Because here is what I know for fact…if you’re reading this, you’ve made it through 100% of your bad days. Remember that.
If the above feels near impossible for you, I’d love to talk live, so book a chat (they’re complimentary), and together, we can fun-size the heck out of this and make the unpredictable feel oh-so predictable through cultivating self-care and therefore resilience 😘
Photo by @madtree_mike
Lindsey is an encourager, optimist, health + life coach, and yoga teacher who helps caregivers live fuller, healthier, vibrant lives through exploring all aspects of their life and health while helping to cultivate simple, sustainable fun-size habits, so that they can continue to make a meaningful impact in themselves, their loved ones, and the world, for generations to come.
